Archaeological Salvage in the Walter F. George Basin of the Chattahoochee River

Written by David DeJarnette and edited by Historic Chattahoochee Commission

Publication Year: 2010

David L. DeJarnette, the founder of scientific archaeology in the state of Alabama, reports on archaeological surveys and excavations undertaken in the Chattahoochee River Valley between 1947 and 1962. The three contributors, Wesley R. Hurt, Edward B. Kurjack, and Fred Lamar Pearson Jr., each made signal contributions to the archaeology of the southeastern states. With their mentor, David L. DeJarnette, they worked out a viable cultural chronology of the region from the earliest Paleoindian and Archaic foragers to the period of early European-Indian contact. They excavated key sites, including the Woodland period Shorter Mound, the protohistoric Abercrombie village, and Spanish Fort Apalachicola, in addition to a number of important Creek Indian town sites of the eighteenth century. All are here, illustrated abundantly by site photographs, maps, and of course, the artifacts recovered from these remarkable investigations.

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Acknowledgments

The authors wish gratefully to acknowledge the following agencies and institutions
without whose assistance and cooperation neither the preliminary survey
of the Walter F. George Basin area nor the subsequent excavations would have
been possible....

Archaeological Salvage in theWalter F. George Basin ofthe Chattahoochee River in Alabama

Introduction [Includes Image Plate]

During the period from June 10 to September 1, 1947, the first phase of the
archaeological salvage program, a preliminary archaeological survey of the Chattahoochee
Valley covering the area from the Florida border to Phenix City,
Alabama, was undertaken by the Alabama Museum of Natural History. The
project was under the general direction of David L. DeJarnette, Curator of the...

Part I. THE PRELIMINARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYOF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE VALLEY AREA IN ALABAMA [Includes Image Plate]

CHAPTER 1. The Historic Tribes in in the Survey Area

In Part I of this publication only those historic tribes of the Chattahoochee that
occupied the area covered by the preliminary survey will be considered. The
purpose of Part I is to aid in the identification of those sites found in the survey.
This attempt to associate historic tribes with archaeological sites involved great
difficulties. The early maps depict areas in a most generalized fashion; the names...

CHAPTER 2. Study and Analysis of the Survey Material

The oldest artifacts found in the general area of the Chattahoochee Valley of
Alabama are a series of fluted projectile points from sites lacking pottery. They
are similar in form and technique of manufacture to other pre-ceramic projectile
points from other areas....

CHAPTER 3. Summary and Conclusions [Includes Image Plates]

One hundred and twenty-four village and camp sites were located in Russell,
Barbour, Henry, and Houston counties during the surnrner of 1947. In addition,
20 mounds and mound groups and one quarry were surveyed. Because of the
heavy growth of timber and intensive cultivation in many areas, many sites may
have been overlooked. A test pit was made in site 1 Ho 3, a cross trench was cut...

Part II. ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE WALTER F. GEORGE BASIN

CHAPTER 4. Excavations [Includes Image Plates]

The Shorter Site, 1 Br 15, consisting of a high but eroded mound and adjacent
village area, is located just north of Eufaula, Alabama, less than a half mile
northwest of the Chattahoochee River. Here, on the second terrace of the river,
three sites lie parallel to the Chattahoochee. Site 1 Br 15 is centermost, bounded
on both the northeast and southwest by deep gullies cut by two branches of the...

CHAPTER 5. Summary and Conclusions

The sites at which the excavations reported in this study took place represent
five major periods of culture history in the middle Chattahoochee Valley. Other
culture periods of the area are described in reports of the intensive work that has
been completed on other phases of the valley's prehistory by the Smithsonian
Institution and the University of Georgia....

Part III. SPECIAL INVESTIGATION OF 1Ru 101, THE SPANISH FORT SITE

CHAPTER 6. Historical Background

The appearance of "Two Early Letters from Alabama" in The Alabama Review
(1956) inaugurated a search to find the location of Fort Apalachicola, a Spanish
fortress constructed on the Chattahoochee River in the late seventeenth century.
These two letters from the then commandant, Lt. Favian de Angulo, to the
Spanish governor of Florida describe both the fortress and its environs. Editor...

CHAPTER 7. Excavations [Includes Image Plates]

Two trenches were excavated at the site. The largest of these, extending from
the interior of the fort to its approximate center and crossing the outside earth
embankment and moat, was located near the middle of the eastern side of the
fort. This first trench was enlarged to examine various structural features. The
second trench consisted of five squares excavated just outside the palisade wall...

CHAPTER 8. Summary andConclusions

The principal purpose of the excavation at site 1 Ru 101 was to determine, if
possible, whether the earth embankment located by Brother Finbar was the
Spanish Fort Apalachicola that Captain Primo de Rivera built on the Chattahoochee
in 1689....

Welcome to Project MUSE

Use the simple Search box at the top of the page or the Advanced Search linked from the top of the page to find book and journal content. Refine results with the filtering options on the left side of the Advanced Search page or on your search results page. Click the Browse box to see a selection of books and journals by: Research Area, Titles A-Z, Publisher, Books only, or Journals only.